Rav Isser
Zalman Meltzer served as the beloved Rav of the prestigious Jewish community
of Slutzk. However, the position as spiritual leader of the community kept
him quite busy and left him little time for Torah study. When he was
presented with an offer to leave the Rabbinate to become the Rosh Yeshiva in
another town, he jumped at the opportunity. Before making a final decision,
he traveled to discuss the matter with his illustrious mentor, Rav Chaim
Soloveitchik.

Rav Isser
Zalman laid out three arguments in favor of his proposed decision to accept
the new position. Firstly, the position of Rav of a community, in which one
must rule daily on difficult questions of Jewish law, is fraught with
tremendous responsibility. One wrong decision could, G-d forbid, cause
somebody to eat non-kosher food or unjustifiably have to pay money to
another person, whereas giving a daily Gemora shiur (class) would be a much
lower-risk activity.

Secondly, in his present position, he was forced to spend a large portion of
the day dealing with simple, uneducated laymen who weren’t able to
appreciate his greatness in Torah. In a yeshiva setting, on the other hand,
he would be able to spend the entire day engaged in Talmudic discourse with
young scholars who could appreciate his talents and who would challenge him
to maximize his own potential.

Finally, the obligations of his current position were so numerous that they
left him insufficient time to engage in his own personal Torah study. The
new position being offered would leave him free of distractions so that he
would be able to focus his efforts on loftier pursuits. Rav Isser Zalman
concluded by suggesting that each of the three reasons unto itself
constituted a powerful argument for accepting the new position, and when
considered together they seemed to point unequivocally in that direction.

Rav
Chaim responded that Rav Isser Zalman’s logic indeed seemed correct.
However, Rav Chaim pointed out that he had overlooked one compelling
consideration: this is not the way such matters have traditionally been
handled! Rav Isser Zalman was not the first Torah scholar in history to
serve as Rav of a community who found himself spending a disproportionate
amount of his day engaged in activities that he would prefer to avoid.
Nevertheless, there is no mesorah (tradition) of these Rabbonim abdicating
their positions due to the aforementioned considerations.

In our
verse, the Torah teaches that when in doubt, a person should consult those
older and more experienced than him, who can guide him based on the wisdom
of their years. In this case, Rav Isser Zalman’s seemingly logical reasoning
was outweighed by the simple observation that throughout the generations,
our elders had a different perspective and this is not the way that they
conducted themselves.

Amarti af’eihem ash’bisa me’enosh zich’ram
(32:26)

The Seder
HaDoros (4954) records a fascinating historical incident. The Ramban had a
student by the name of Avner who left the path of Torah observance and
eventually rose to become a prestigious minister to the Spanish king. One
year, in the middle of Yom Kippur, Avner sent a messenger to bring the
Ramban before him in the king’s palace. On the holiest day of the Jewish
year, in front of his illustrious former teacher, Avner proceeded to commit
the dastardly deed of killing a pig, cooking it, and eating it.

Although Avner had sunken to the lowest spiritual abyss imaginable, he still
retained the knowledge that the Ramban had imparted to him. After eating the
pig, he asked the Ramban how many kerisos (spiritual excisions) he was
liable for his actions. The Ramban responded that he would suffer four
kerisos for what he had done. Avner attempted to argue that he was actually
liable five kerisos, but the Ramban gave him a stern look of disapproval.
Avner, stricken with the ingrained reverence he once felt toward his
teacher, was speechless and unable to continue.

At
this point, the Ramban asked Avner what had caused him to leave the Torah
path. He replied that the Ramban had once claimed that Parshas Haazinu
contains within it allusions to the entire Torah and to everything which
will occur throughout history. Avner found such an assertion ridiculous and
viewed it as an insult to his rational faculties. This was the beginning of
his cynical questioning of everything which he had ever been taught and held
as sacred. The Ramban responded that his original contention was indeed
valid. Avner challenged the Ramban to locate a reference to him in the
parsha. The Ramban silently prayed for Divine assistance, and our verse was
revealed to him. Beginning with the second word in the verse, the third
letter in each word spells the name Avner.

Upon
realizing the implications of the verse, which means “I will scatter them,
and I will cause their memory to cease from mankind,” in which his name is
contained, Avner was overcome by an intense fear and asked his teacher if
there was any hope for him. The Ramban replied, “You heard what the verse
says (and its connotations).” At that point, Avner set sail in a boat with
no destination, allowing it to take him in whichever direction the winds and
waves would send him, and he was never heard from again – in precise
fulfillment of the words of the verse in Parshas Haazinu which refers to
him!

R’u ata ki ani ani hu v’ein elohim imadi
(32:39)

In the
middle of discussing Jewish national history, Moshe digressed to proclaim,
“See now that I (Hashem) am He, and there is no other god with Me.”
Why did Moshe interrupt his discourse to make this declaration specifically
at this point? Further, why did he stress that you should see now
that I am Hashem and there are no other powers besides Me, implying that
something occurred which clarified this point?

The
Vilna Gaon brilliantly answers these questions. The mystical work Megaleh
Amukos writes that there are 955 ascending levels in the Heavens. Although
the majority of them contain various types of celestial angels, the upper 55
levels are empty of anything but Hashem’s Divine Glory. This is alluded to
by the verse (10:14) hen l’Hashem Elokecha– they
(the Heavens and the earth) belong to Hashem your G-d. The numerical value
of the word “hen” is 55, hinting to the fact that although the entire
Creation belongs to Hashem, the upper 55 levels of the Heavens are
exclusively His.

The
Vilna Gaon explains that with each successive verse of the book of Devorim
that Moshe taught, his soul ascended to the next level of the Heavens,
concluding with the 955th verse, through which he merited
reaching the greatest heights possible and from which there was nowhere
further to ascend. As Moshe spoke each verse and ascended through the
levels, he encountered loftier celestial beings, yet there was nary a level
which was completely devoid of them.

Our
verse is the 901st verse in the book of Devorim. As Moshe
prepared to say it, he looked around at the celestial level he had just
reached and noticed that for the first time in his ascent, he had reached a
place completely empty of any being other than Hashem’s Divine Presence. He
couldn’t help but exclaim that although it hadn’t been visibly apparent in
the lower levels, now – from his new vantage point – it was quite
clear to see that Hashem is One, and there are no other powers with Him!

Parsha Points to Ponder
(and sources which discuss them):

1)The Gemora in Berachos (21a) derives from 32:3 the
mitzvah to recite a blessing prior to Torah study. If somebody is unsure
whether he recited the blessing that day, the Mishnah Berurah (47:1) rules
that because this is a Biblical commandment, he must say it again out of
doubt. The Mishnah Berurah (47:28) rules that because there is a dispute
whether a person who stayed awake the entire night is obligated to make a
new blessing in the morning, one should not do so because of the rule that
safek berachos l’hakel – when a person is in doubt whether he must make a
blessing, he should refrain from doing so. Why isn’t the rule quoted in the
former ruling, that one must be strict when in doubt regarding a Biblical
obligation, applicable in the latter case? (M’rafsin Igri)

2)The Torah instructs us (32:7) to ask our fathers and
grandfathers for advice. Does this advice also apply to somebody whose
father or grandfather isn’t a Torah scholar? (Lulei Soras’cha)

3)The Torah says (32:39) that Hashem puts to death and
brings to life. The Ibn Ezra writes that many derive from here a source for
the concept of the World to Come, as the verse hints that Hashem will revive
the dead. Why are the fundamental concepts of the World to Come and the
resurrection of the dead not discussed explicitly anywhere in the Torah? (Ibn
Ezra, Taam V’Daas)

4)Rashi explains (32:48) that our parsha is one of 3
places where the expression b’etzem hayom hazeh – in the middle of the day –
is used. It is also used in conjunction with Noach entering the ark and with
the Jews leaving Egypt to emphasize that although others claimed they would
prevent Noach from entering the ark and the Jews from leaving Egypt, Hashem
commanded them to do so “in broad daylight” to prove that nobody can thwart
His will. When the Jews heard of Moshe’s impending death, they claimed they
would not permit him to die. Hashem commanded him to ascend the mountain and
die in the middle of the day to prove that they were unable to stop Him. How
did the Jews think that they could prevent him from dying, something which
was beyond their control? (Yalkut Shimoni Parshas Chukas 764, Medrash Lekach
Tov, Chiddushei HaRim, Nesivos Rabboseinu, Yishm’ru Daas, K’Motzei Shalal
Rav)

5)Hashem told Moshe (32:49-50) to ascend the mountain
and die there just as his brother Aharon died. Rashi explains that Moshe
coveted the way in which Aharon had died. Aharon merited seeing his son
Elozar wearing the garments of the Kohen Gadol and preparing to succeed him,
and Hashem promised Moshe that he would die a parallel death. In what way
did Moshe enjoy a similar death, as Rashi writes (Bamidbar 27:16) that his
request for his children to succeed him was denied and he was succeeded
instead by Yehoshua? (Kol Dodi)